An eco-geek's foray into backyard beekeeping

A Package O’Bees

My two packages of Carniolan bees are due to arrive from California later this month. Over the past few weeks, as I’ve been slowly and diligently applying paint to my new hives (which is taking FOREVER because it has been too damp for the paint to dry quickly and the garage is small, so I have to paint in small batches), I’ve had plenty of time to think about my bees and wonder what they are up to down in California. Hopefully, they are hatching, eating and enjoying some better weather than we have had!

I also got to wondering how professional beekeepers make bee packages. By exactly what means does one get three pounds of bees into a wood and mesh box? Here’s what I’ve learned:

Bee suppliers are usually located in warm regions. For the Pacific Northwest, this means California. As spring arrives earlier in southern states, the beekeepers there have more time to grow queens and divide hives. However, California, with its dry climate, does not have enough forage to support many hives of bees. So, while they can grow the bees, California beekeepers rely on beekeepers from other parts of the nation to raise them in areas with better pollen production.

Almond tree pollination, which typically runs from mid-February to mid-March, is big business in California. Commercial beekeepers from across the country ship their hives to California to overwinter and then be used for almond farm pollination in the spring. They are paid for loaning their hives for this purpose. California itself cannot support enough hives to pollinate all of the almond farms. About one million hives are trucked in each winter and head home after citrus pollinating season later in the spring.

So, now that it is April, the hives that will give rise to my packages have finished toiling in the almond orchards. The beekeepers will now be growing queens and encouraging the hives to multiply almost to the point of swarming. They will divide the hives (hopefully before swarming occurs) and set them to growing again. They may put queen excluders into the hives at this point to make it easier for them when bee packaging day arrives. Or, they may just have a team of beekeepers who find the queen in each hive when the big day arrives.

When it’s time to package the bees, beekeepers will bundle a queen and a few worker bees (as queens cannot feed themselves) into a little mini-package called a queen cage. The beekeepers will have built hundreds of larger bee packages out of wood and wire mesh, with a large hole cut out of the top for one for a can of sugar syrup to feed the bees while they are traveling to their new homes. With these things ready to go, they don their suits and get their smokers going. And while the process varies from beekeeper to beekeeper (of course!) here’s how they typically get the bees into the package.

Team A goes to the hives with the smokers and calms the bees. If they don’t have queen excluders on the hives, then Team A also finds the queen. They pull out frames from the hive, laden with worker bees. Team B has the packages and a large metal contraption that looks like a giant pot with a metal duct growing out of its base, and a wide-mouthed funnel attached to the end of the duct. The wide-mouthed funnel fits into the sugar syrup can hole. Team A takes the frames and shakes them (pretty hard sometimes!) into the pot. The bees fall down the duct, through the funnel and into the package.

This process is repeated several times until the package has the right amount of bees in it. The right amount is determined in at least two ways. Some beekeeping outfits use scales. Others have a “fill line” on the packages. So, they add bees, shake the package so that all of the bees fall to the bottom, and then see if the package is full enough. Once the package is full, the queen cage is placed inside, a can of sugar syrup is inserted and wood is nailed over the hole to seal the package.

This video shows one beekeeper’s approach. I found it via the A-Bee Honey & Costanza Orchards. They included this sweet disclaimer on their website, “Please understand that the information presented may not reflect the same attitude and beliefs of A-Bee Honey or Costanza Orchards in the various management practices that are exhibited in these video presentations.” Which is to say, the beekeepers in this video are pretty rough with their bees and smash or vacuum up a number of them. Yikes!